This invention relates in general to article carriers and deals more particularly with an improved sports backpack for carrying bulky sports gear.
There was a time when knapsacks and backpacks were generally associated with hiking and camping and where used almost exclusively in those activities. However, in recent years the trend toward more casual lifestyle has contributed to the acceptance and rise in popularity of the backpack as a convenient means for transporting articles of all kinds and special purpose backpacks have been developed for a wide range of usages.
Heretofore, such special purpose backpacks have been provided for carrying bulky sports gear. One such backpack shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,581 to Reddy is particularly adapted to carry a large sports ball, such as a basketball and is convertible between a backpack and a shoulder bag. Another backpack for bulky sports gear and footwear is shown in the patent to Kliot, Des. 409,377. A shoulder carried sports pack shown in the patent to McArthur, 4,883,207, is particularly suited to carry equipment for recreational water sports such as scuba diving and provides pockets for carrying flippers. However, such backpacks as heretofore available are not generally suited to contain or otherwise carry an elongated sports playing device such as a baseball bat or a tennis racket having an elongated handle and shaft.
Accordingly, it is the general aim of the present invention to provide an improved, versatile sports backpack particularly adapted to carry sports apparel including such specialized footwear as may be required to play a sport and an elongated playing device such as a bat or a racket, for example. It is a further aim of the invention to provide an improved sports backpack to be worn on the back when hiking or cycling, but which may be conveniently hand carried, when necessary, as when traveling by public transportation. Yet another aim of the invention is to provide a backpack which may be folded to a convenient size for storage when not in use.
In accordance with the present invention, an improved sports backpack has a pack body formed from flexible sheet material and includes a main container having front and rear walls and defining a main carrying compartment. The pack body further includes a pair of elongated upwardly extending footwear containers located rearward of the main container and disposed in laterally spaced apart side-by-side relation to each other. The footwear containers cooperate with the rear wall to define a rearwardly open carrying space for receiving and containing in a carrying position an elongated portion of a sports playing device, such as the barrel portion of a baseball bat or the handle and shaft portions of a tennis racket. A releasable retaining means draws the shoe containers toward each other and into gripping engagement with an associated portion of the playing device to releasably secure the playing device to the backpack.